4 Quanta Technology s Background on Similar Projects Similar Projects The following storm hardening projects have been performed by Quanta Technology: Florida Undergrounding Study, Florida Electric Utilities This project performed a three-phase project for a consortium representing all electric utilities in Florida (managed through the Public Utility Research Consortium of the University of Florida). Phase 1 performed a comprehensive literature review and assessment. 1 Phase 2 performed four case studies of completed underground conversion projects. 2 Phase 3 developed a hurricane simulation model capable of predicting the costs and benefits to all stakeholders for potential underground conversion projects, as well as comparing these costs and benefits to a hardened overhead system. 3 Reliability Improvement Roadmap, Puget Sound Energy Puget Sound Energy (PSE) was exploring the possibility of significantly improving the reliability of its system, including performance during major storms. This three-phase project assisted them in this effort. The first phase consisted of the development of a 10-year reliability roadmap including an assessment of the current state, an identification of the desired future state, and the development of a high-level set of transition steps to harden the system. The second phase consisted of a detailed cost-versus-reliability assessment for a pilot area to gain a full understanding of cost quantification, benefit quantification, and estimates of budget, time, and resources required to achieve reliability improvement goals on a systemwide scale. The third phase extrapolated results into a system wide plan capable of reducing SAIDI by 50% over the ten year roadmap period and significantly reducing expected infrastructure damage should a major storm occur. Hurricane Hardening Roadmap, Florida Power & Light This project developed a hurricane hardening roadmap for Florida Power & Light (FPL). This included the development of a hardening toolkit, standards, specifications, criteria, application guidelines, and supporting tools. It also included a pilot study that demonstrated and refined these concepts, and provided a basis for a ten-year roadmap in terms of projected cost and effort. Last, this project developed a ten-year reliability roadmap that achieved all FPL s distribution hardening objectives for the least possible cost. Extreme Wind Hardening Benchmark Survey, BC Hydro This project performed a survey of hardening initiatives of utilities in the Pacific Northwest following the severe wind storms of Dec This project also surveyed hardening initiatives in other parts of the country and around the world. 1 Quanta Technology, Undergrounding Assessment Phase 1 Final Report: Literature Review and Analysis of Electric Distribution Overhead to Underground Conversion. Submitted to the Florida Public Service Commission per order PSC PAA EI, Feb Quanta Technology, Undergrounding Assessment Phase 2 Final Report: Undergrounding Case Studies. Prepared by Quanta Technology the Florida Electric Utilities and submitted to the Florida Public Service Commission per order PSC PAA EI, Aug Quanta Technology, Undergrounding Assessment Phase 3 Final Report: Ex Ante Cost and Benefit Modeling. Prepared for the Florida Electric Utilities and submitted to the Florida Public Service Commission per order PSC PAA-EI, May PUCT Project No FINAL REPORT 3

5 Wood Pole Failure Assessment, Midwest Energy This project performed a forensic analysis after a wind storm blew down a series of transmission poles and distribution poles spanning 2 miles. This included a review of maintenance records, a pole loading analysis, and a comparison to nearby distribution pole performance. Project Team The primary contributors to the content of this report are the following: Richard Brown, PhD, MBA (project manager, data analysis, societal cost) ML Chan, PhD (technology impact) Luther Dow, MBA (cost of inspection programs) Bill Snyder, MBA (cost-to-benefit analysis) Le Xu, PhD (hurricane modeling and simulation) Brief bios of team members are now provided. Richard Brown. Dr. Brown is Vice President of Operations for Quanta Technology and also serves as an Executive Advisor. He is an internationally recognized top expert on all aspects of power system reliability. This includes reliability assessment, reliability benchmarking, undergrounding, infrastructure hardening, post-storm damage assessment, predictive modeling for infrastructure performance during storms, and cost-to-benefit analysis. He has published more than 80 technical papers related to these topics and has provided consulting services to most major utilities in the United States and many around the world. He is author of the book Electric Power Distribution Reliability, which is the currently the only published book with content on utility storm hardening. Selected recent activities by Dr. Brown related to electric infrastructure performance during storms includes the following: 1. Invited Speaker, Hurricane Hardening Efforts in Florida, IEEE PES 2008 General Meeting, Pittsburg, PA, July Invited Speaker, Pole Hardening Following Hurricane Wilma, Southeastern Utility Pole Conference, Tunica, MS, Feb Invited Speaker, Distribution Storm Hardening, ESMO, Albequerque, NM, Oct Instructor, Infrastructure Hardening, Post-Conference Workshop, Electric Distribution Reliability Conference, EUCI, Long Beach, CA, Sept Invited Speaker, Hurricane Impact on Reliability in Florida, IEEE PES General Meeting, Montreal, CA, June Keynote Speaker, Distribution Storm Hardening, EEI Transmission, Distribution, & Metering Conference, Houston, Texas, April Invited Speaker, Hurricane Hardening, Florida Public Service Commission Staff Workshop on Electric Utility Infrastructure, Tallahassee, FL, Jan Over the last five years, Dr. Brown has worked with the following utilities on issues related to storm hardening and related cost-to-benefit analyses: BC Hydro, Florida Electric Cooperatives Association, Florida Municipal Electric Association, Florida Power & Light, Gulf Power, Lee County Electric Cooperative, Midwest Energy, Progress Energy, Puget Sound Energy, and Tampa Electric. PUCT Project No FINAL REPORT 4

6 Over the last eighteen years, Dr. Brown has developed several storm reliability and cost-to-benefit models for electric utility systems. This includes models for the Florida Public Utility Commission (hurricanes), Snohomish County PUD #1 (high winds), Baltimore Gas & Electric (high winds and rain), Dominion, Oklahoma Gas & Electric (high winds and rain), Xcel Energy (high winds and ice buildup), and Florida Power & Light (hurricanes). He has also performed system reliability studies for the following utilities: AEP, Baltimore Gas & Electric, Electricity de Portugal, Exelon, Florida Power & Light, Midwest Energy, National Grid USA, North Delhi Power Limited, Oklahoma Gas & Electric, Pacific Gas & Electric, PacifiCorp, Progress Energy, San Diego Gas & Electric, Scottish Power, Snohomish County, Southern Company, and TXU. Dr. Brown is an IEEE Fellow. He has a BSEE, MSEE, and PhD from the University of Washington, Seattle, and an MBA from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He is a registered professional engineer. Dr. Brown has worked (chronologically) at Jacobs Engineering, the University of Washington, ABB, KEMA, and Quanta Technology. ML Chan. Dr. Chan s areas of expertise are Smart Grid and the utilization of computer and communications system technologies to deliver power system reliability, performance improvement, and optimal asset management for utilities. He combines his power system planning and operations expertise to integrate demand responses and load management, AMI/AMR systems, Home Automation Network (HAN), feeder automation, substation automation, EMS/SCADA, DMS/SCADA, PMU/WAPS, asset condition monitoring, condition-based maintenance (CBM) into a Smart Grid vision. For more than 35 years, Dr. Chan has provided consulting services to over 70 utilities in the United States and around the world. He has published over 60 technical papers and has given many presentations and speeches in seminars and tutorials. He is the Chair of IEEE Power System Planning and Implementation Committee, and a member of Executive Advisory Committee for DistrbuTECH Conferences. He is also on the Editorial Board of IEEE Transactions on Power Systems. Dr. Chan has SB, SM and Electrical Engineer s degrees from MIT, and PhD from Cornell University. Prior to joining Quanta Technology, he has worked with Energy Resources Company, Tetra Tech, Systems Control, Energy Management Associates, ECC, ML Consulting Group, SchlumbergerSema, and KEMA. Luther Dow. Mr. Dow has more than thirty five years of utility engineering and operating experience. His areas of expertise are planning, asset management, emergency restoration, system condition assessment, and aging infrastructure management. During his career, Mr. Dow has managed emergency restoration effort for both high voltage substations and high voltage transmission towers. He also developed and implemented a multi-year reliability plans for the city of San Francisco, which improved reliability by 50% as measured by System Average Interruption Duration Index (SAIDI). Managerially, Mr. Dow has led both large and small organizations through major organizational and cultural change, and helped bring new technologies and techniques into the workplace. Mr. Dow has a BSEE and an MBA from California State University, Sacramento and is a registered professional engineer. He has worked (chronologically) at Pacific Gas & Electric, Doble Engineering, EPRI, and Quanta Technology. Bill Snyder. Mr. Snyder, Vice President of Maintenance and Standards, has a unique background in utility operations, management and change initiatives resulting from over 28 years experience in the electric utility industry. He has successfully led consulting engagements to review and evaluate operational processes and standards, storm restoration efforts, conducted evaluations of asset condition and value, and led major process change identification and implementation programs in the engineering and operations functions. He has provided storm hardening support to a number of utilities including Florida Power & Light, Ameren, and Puget Sound Energy. His experience in power engineering and his understanding of PUCT Project No FINAL REPORT 5

7 management needs and challenges to continuously improve operational performance provide him a unique insight into utility company operations, culture and improvement opportunities. As both a utility manager and as a consultant, he has experience working with senior officers to develop and implement operational strategy to achieve new levels of operational efficiency, service reliability and cost savings. Bill earned a BS degree in Engineering from North Carolina State University and MBA degree from Wake Forest University and is a member of IEEE. Le Xu, PhD. Dr. Xu is an expert in extreme weather modeling and its application to utility failure and reliability analysis. He has published more than 10 technical papers in this area. Dr. Xu has applied statistical approaches and computational intelligence methods to outage data from several large utilities including Duke, Progress Energy, Pacific Gas & Electric, Baltimore Gas & Electric, and Southern California Edison. He is a member of IEEE and chairs the IEEE Eastern North Carolina Section (ENCS) Computational Intelligence Society (CIS) chapters. He received his B.Eng. from Tsinghua University, Beijing, and his MSEE and PhD from North Carolina State University, Raleigh. He has worked at North Carolina State University (research assistant), KEMA (intern), and Quanta Technology. PUCT Project No FINAL REPORT 6

8 Executive Summary Hurricanes can cause significant damage to utility infrastructure, resulting in large restoration costs for utilities (ultimately borne by customers) and further societal costs due to reduced economic activity. Despite these costs, hardening utility infrastructure so that it is less susceptible to hurricane damage is very expensive. This report examines the costs, utility benefits, and societal benefits for a variety of storm hardening programs (see Table A). Based on data provided by utilities and other assumptions, the following programs are found to be costeffective: Cost-effective Storm Hardening Programs 1. Improved post-storm data collection. Most damage data available to utilities is from accounting and work management systems. A much better understanding of infrastructure performance can result from carefully designed post-storm data collection programs that capture key features at failure sites and are statistically significant. Improved storm data allows for more cost-effective spending on hardening programs. 2. Hazard tree removal. Hazard trees are dead and diseased trees outside of a utility s right-of-way that have the potential to fall into utility lines or structures. Removing dead and diseased trees is desirable from a societal perspective in any case and can significantly reduce hurricane damage. Further benefits can result from the removal of healthy danger trees that are at risk of falling into utility facilities. Many utilities already attempt to address these issues but often encounter resistance from property owners. 3. Targeted electric distribution hardening. This approach targets spending to high-priority circuits, important structures, and structures that are likely to fail. Since all spending must be justified based on a cost-tobenefit analysis, targeted distribution system hardening is cost-effective by definition. The targeted hardening of about 1% of distribution structures is likely to be cost-effective for Texas utilities. In general, the targeted hardening of transmission structures is not cost-effective. However, the transmission structures of Entergy Texas experienced extremely high failure rates during both Hurricanes Rita and Ike. Based on these high failure rates, an analysis shows that the targeted hardening of Entergy Texas transmission structures is potentially cost-effective and should be investigated further. Findings and conclusions are based on (1) hurricane damage and cost data provided by the utilities and (2) a hurricane simulation model. Utility data is never perfect, and many assumptions are used within the hurricane simulation model and the cost-to-benefit analysis. Therefore, the findings and conclusions are necessarily broad and may or may not be applicable to specific situations. Brief descriptions of major findings and conclusions are now provided. Electric Utility Restoration Costs. Since 1998, electric utilities in Texas have incurred about $1.8 billion in restoration costs due to hurricanes and tropical storms, for an average of about $180 million per year. About 80% of these costs are attributed to distribution and 20% to transmission. Nearly all of the restorations costs are attributed to wind damage, tree damage, and flying debris. Storm surge damage is occasionally a major concern in specific areas, but generally represents a low percentage of restoration costs. Telecom Utility Restoration Costs. Since 1998, telecom utilities in Texas have incurred about $181 million in restoration costs due to hurricanes and tropical storms, for an average of about $18 million per year. This is about 10% of the electric utility restoration costs over the same time period. Telecom utilities attribute a higher percentage of hurricane damage to storm surge and flooding when compared to electric utilities, but a majority of damage is still due to wind damage, tree damage, and flying debris. Hurricane Simulation. A hurricane simulation model has been developed that simulates hurricane years. For each year, the model determines the number of hurricanes that make Texas landfall. It then simulates each hurricane including size, strength, landfall location, path, infrastructure damage, restoration time, and other key factors. The average results of 10,000 simulation years are used for cost and benefit calculations. PUCT Project No FINAL REPORT 7

9 Table A. Summary of Findings. # Hurricane Mitigation Program (a) Incremental Utility Cost ($1000s) Utility Hurricane Benefit ($1000s/yr) GDP Hurricane Benefit ($1000s/yr) Cost Effective (b) Vegetation Management 1. Annual patrols for transmission $136 /yr $0 $0 No 2. Annual patrols for distribution $2,760 /yr $0 $0 No 3. Hazard tree removal program Not examined $13,800 $9,200 Yes Ground-Based Patrols 4. Annual patrols for transmission $15,400/yr $0 $0 No 5. Annual patrols distribution $32,700/yr $7,500 $4,900 No Substations & Central Offices 6. New substations outside of 100-yr floodplain Site specific $16 per site $0 Depends 7. New COs outside of 100-yr floodplain Site specific $4 per site $0 Depends 8. Backup generators for substations within 50 miles of coast $21,800 $0 $1,384 No 9. Backup generators for COs within 50 miles of coast $4,152 $0 $442 Yes (c) Infrastructure Hardening 10. Improved post-storm data collection Not examined Not examined Not examined Yes 11. Non-wood structures for new transmission Varies $0 $0 No 12. Harden new transmission $0 (d) $0 $0 No 13. UG conversion of existing transmission $32,885,000 $27,000 $18,300 No 14. UG conversion of existing distribution $28,263,000 $126,000 $85,400 No 15. Targeted hardening existing transmission $2,400,000 $9,000 $6,100 No (e) 16. Targeted hardening existing distribution $320,000 $14,400 $9,800 Yes Smart Grid Technologies 17. Technologies for transmission Not examined Not examined $1.8 No 18. Technologies for distribution Not examined Not examined $47.4 No (a) Unless otherwise stated, these mitigation programs are evaluated on a broad basis with the assumption of widespread deployment. Even if widespread deployment is not cost-effective, there may be certain specific situations where the approach is cost-effective. (b) The cost-effective rating is based on hurricane benefits only. There may be other benefits that make these mitigation programs cost-effective. (c) Most COs (central offices) already have backup generator capability in addition to battery backup. (d) Targeted hardening of the Entergy Texas transmission system is potentially cost-effective and should be investigated in more detail. (e) New transmission is already required to meet NESC extreme wind criteria. Societal Cost. Societal costs are based on GDP for metropolitan statistical areas along the Texas coastline (Beaumont-Port Arthur, Brownsville-Harlingen, Corpus Christi, Houston-Baytown-Sugar Land, and Victoria). Annually, GDP for these areas is $384 billion. Based on the hurricane simulation model, lost GDP due to hurricanes is an average of $122 million per year. Vegetation Management. Annual vegetation patrols apart from normal vegetation management activities will not result in significant hurricane benefits. During hurricanes, most vegetation damage is from falling trees located outside of the utility right-of-way. Typical vegetation patrols focus on clearance violations, which is not a major hurricane issue. As stated previously, a cost-effective hurricane vegetation program must focus on the removal of hazard trees and potentially danger trees. PUCT Project No FINAL REPORT 8

10 Ground-Based Patrols. Ground-based patrols are used by utilities to visually inspect structures from the ground and identify maintenance needs, including problems that may result in poor hurricane performance (inspections for groundline deterioration is typically performed separately). Comprehensive ground-based patrol programs for transmission are common, but not generally cost-effective to perform annually. Comprehensive ground-based patrol programs for distribution are less common, with inspections typically occurring as part of daily operations. Substations & Central Offices (COs). Substations and central offices have relatively low failure and damage rates during storms and have low contributions to total restoration costs. Locating a particular new substation and/or CO outside of the 100-year floodplain will have both benefits and costs, and the cost-effectiveness will vary with each situation. Loss of substation auxiliary power has not been a major factor for utilities after hurricanes, and the installation of backup generators in substations for auxiliary power is generally not cost-effective. In contrast, backup generators at COs are cost-effective. In practice, large COs already have permanent backup generators and smaller COs have the ability to utilize portable generators. The incremental costs of placing permanent backup generators at small COs typically do not justify the incremental benefits. Infrastructure Hardening. Infrastructure hardening is expensive, and most general approaches are not costeffective. However, targeted distribution hardening is cost-effective by definition, since a specific hardening activity is only performed if analyses show that it is cost-effective. A targeted program will typically identify and address high priority circuits, critical structures in these circuits, and structures with a very high probability of failing during a hurricane. The cost-effectiveness of distribution hardening can be significantly increased through the use of data collected through a well-designed post-storm data collection process. Smart Grid Technologies. There are many potential storm restoration benefits that can be derived from a variety of Smart Grid technologies. These benefits are magnified if a comprehensive suite of technologies are integrated and work together seamlessly. This said, technology components located on poles are of little use if the pole blows over, and technology components requiring communications are of little use if the communications system is destroyed. Therefore, the restoration benefits of Smart Grid technologies require a Smart Grid plan that specifically addresses issues related to major storms. Even if this is done, the hurricane benefits of Smart Grid are small compared to the costs. However, these benefits should be included in the overall Smart Grid cost-to-benefit analysis that will include many other benefits. Summary. Recent Texas hurricanes have caused a significant amount of utility infrastructure damage and other societal costs. However, damage is unpredictable and small as a percentage of total installed infrastructure. Broad prescriptive approaches to hurricane hardening are generally not cost-effective since many structures must be hardened for every failure that is eventually prevented. However, certain targeted vegetation and hardening approaches can be cost-effective, especially if they are based on detailed post-storm data collection and analyses. PUCT Project No FINAL REPORT 9

11 1 Introduction Hurricane Ike made landfall at Galveston, Texas, on September 13, At landfall, it was a large Category 2 hurricane with hurricane force winds extending 275 miles from the center. Hurricane Ike was the third costliest U.S. hurricane of all time, behind Hurricane Andrew of 1992 and Hurricane Katrina of Ike caused more than thirteen million businesses and homes to lose power, many for more than a week. In addition to the direct repair costs of utility systems, Texas incurred large economic losses due to a virtual halt in normal business activities. In the past few years, there have been a number of highly visible extreme weather events that have caused extensive damage to utility systems across the country, particularly to electric systems and associated communications attachments. Some of these recent weather events are shown in Table 1-1. Table 1-1. Recent Major Weather Events 2002 Events January Central Plains Ice Storm 2003 Events Hurricane Isabel Hurricane Claudette Hurricane Erica 2004 Events Hurricane Charlie Hurricane Frances Hurricane Ivan Hurricane Jeanne Hurricane Dennis 2005 Events Hurricane Emily Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Rita Hurricane Wilma December Southern States Ice Storm 2006 Events December Pacific Northwest Wind Storm 2007 Events January North American Ice Storm Hurricane Humberto 2008 Events Hurricane Gustav Hurricane Dolly Hurricane Ike PUCT Project No FINAL REPORT 10

12 Many parts of utility systems are not designed to survive major weather events like hurricanes. This includes direct damage from wind, direct damage from storm surges, and indirect damage from falling trees and flying debris. Many in the industry are beginning to inquire as to whether it may be beneficial for utilities to harden their systems so that they will incur less damage from extreme weather events and be better able to quickly restore utility services. Of particular interest are the costs of various hardening approaches and the corresponding benefits of these approaches, including the economic benefits of faster restoration. On December 12, 2008, the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT or Commission) issued a Request for Proposal (RFP No ) to provide a cost-benefit analysis of the recommendations in the Final Staff Report (Project No , Item No. 93), PUC Investigation of Methods to Improve Electric and Telecommunications Infrastructure to Minimize Long Term Outages and Restoration Costs Associated with Gulf Coast Hurricanes. The scope of this project is to (1) determine the costs associated with vegetation management and pole inspection programs throughout the State of Texas, and (2) determine the costs and benefits associated with storm hardening efforts such as requiring new transmission and distribution lines built within 50 miles of the Texas coast to meet the most current National Electrical Safety Code (NESC) standards. The analysis is to consider the societal costs associated with lost productivity during extended power outages and the benefits associated with shorter restoration times. The PUCT selected Quanta Technology to perform the work described in the RFP. This report is the response of Quanta Technology s research and analysis. PUCT Project No FINAL REPORT 11

13 2 Hurricane Data Review This section reviews and evaluates data collected by the PUCT from electric and telecommunications utilities related to hurricanes and tropical storms impacting the Texas coast within the last ten years with the goals of (1) assessing infrastructure damage caused by wind, trees, flying debris, inland flooding, and storm surge and (2) assessing the associated restoration costs. The Texas utility damage data assessed in this section is derived from a PUCT request for information. Responses to this request are filed under Docket No Quanta Technology created a supplementary set of questions related to electric utility infrastructure and operational data. These questions are shown in Appendix D and the responses are filed under Docket No This section begins by providing a summary of hurricanes and tropical storms (collectively called named storms) that have made landfall in Texas over the last ten years. It then has a section analyzing damage and cost data for electric utilities, followed by a separate section analyzing damage and cost data for telecom utilities. 2.1 Overview of Hurricanes A tropical cyclone is a low-pressure system that develops over tropical waters. A hurricane is the name for a tropical cyclone that occurs in the Atlantic Ocean. Tropical cyclones with maximum sustained surface winds of less than 39 mph are called tropical depressions. Once the tropical cyclone reaches winds of at least 39 mph, it is called a tropical storm and assigned a name. If sustained winds reach 74 mph, the tropical cyclone is called a hurricane. Together, tropical depressions and hurricanes are called named storms. A hurricane forms when a mass of warm moist air over the ocean begins to rise. When the moist air reaches higher and cooler altitudes, water vapor condenses, releasing heat and causing the air to rise further. The rising air creates low surface pressure that causes surrounding air to flow into the area of low pressure. This inflowing air then rises and the cycle repeats. The Coriolis effect of the Earth s rotation causes the incoming surface winds to rotate counter clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere. If high altitude wind speeds are not similar at all altitudes, the resulting wind shear causes the tropical cyclone to lose organization and weaken. A hurricane is typically assigned a category of one through five based on its maximum 1-minute sustained wind speeds according to the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. The minimum and maximum sustained wind speeds corresponding to each hurricane category are shown in Table 2-1. Since the extreme wind ratings of utility structures are based on a three second gust, it is useful to also think of hurricane categories in terms of gust speeds. A typical hurricane will have 3-second gusts that are about 25% faster than 1-minute sustained wind speeds (this can vary). Using this 25% gust factor, the minimum and maximum expected 3-second gust speeds corresponding to each hurricane category are also shown in Table 2 1. PUCT Project No FINAL REPORT 12

14 Table 2-1. Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale Category 1-min sustained (mph) 3-sec gust (mph) Min Max Min Max Hurricanes cause damage to utility systems in a variety of ways. Many utilities report that a majority of damage is due to entire trees blowing over into power lines, which results in broken conductors, broken crossarms, broken insulators, broken poles, and leaning poles. Other hurricanes caused damage primarily by blowing over structures. Damage can also result from flying tree branches, sheet metal, and a variety of other debris. After a hurricane, utilities also typically report wind-related damage to riser shields and streetlights. Figure 2-1 shows images of distribution system damage caused by hurricanes. This emphasizes the range of damage that hurricanes can do, including overhead system damage, underground system damage, and flooding. When a hurricane approaches land, it blows a wall of water onto shore called a storm surge. A storm surge tends to pick up a large amount of sand and debris. The sand can bury and contaminate padmounted equipment, and the debris can damage and dislodge pad-mounted equipment. When the storm surge recedes, it can carry away sand and dirt, leaving formerly underground cables, vaults, and manholes exposed. When a storm surge floods coastal areas, salt water immerses all of the pad-mounted and sub-surface electrical equipment in the storm surge area. When the storm surge recedes, a salt residue can be left on insulators, bushings, and other components. This contamination can result in an immediate failure when the equipment is energized, or can result in a future failure when the contamination is exposed to moisture. With a hurricane comes an extensive amount of rain and the potential for flooding. This causes waterimmersion problems similar to a storm surge but somewhat less severe since the flooding is with fresh water instead of salt water. Typically live-front equipment performs worst when flooded, dead-front equipment is preferable to live-front equipment, and only submersible equipment can be considered immune from hurricane damage. 4 Even if utility equipment survives a hurricane, it may be damaged during the cleanup effort. Typically, a hurricane will result in piles of debris that can easily cover pad-mounted equipment. When bulldozers come through the area, non-visible electrical equipment will incur severe damage if struck. 4 Live-front equipment has energized equipment, such as busbars, exposed and easily accessible while dead-front equipment does not have energized parts exposed on the operating side. Submersible equipment contained in waterproof enclosures. PUCT Project No FINAL REPORT 13

16 Figure 2-2. Debris is a major hurricane concern. Figure 2-2 illustrates several issues related to hurricane debris. The left image shows a corrugated steel roof that detached and flew into power lines, acted as a sail, and caused strong concrete poles to blow down. The right image shows a pile of debris that may be covering undamaged pad-mounted equipment. When bulldozers clear this pile, the pad-mounted equipment is vulnerable to damage (some utilities scout debris piles and mark buried utility equipment with flags). 2.2 Recent Texas Tropical Storms and Hurricanes A list of tropical storms and hurricanes making landfall on or near the Texas coast in the last ten years is shown in Table 2-2. This table shows the date of landfall, the assigned storm name, and the strength of the storm at landfall. Of course, every hurricane is unique in terms of wind, size, wind patterns, landfall location, track, speed, and a variety of other factors. To illustrate these differences, tracks of recent hurricanes making landfall in Texas are shown in Figure 2-3. After this, brief descriptions are provided for each of the tropical cyclones listed in Table 2-2. Table 2-2. Recent Named Storms Making Landfall within 50 miles of Texas Date of Texas Landfall Name Strength at Landfall August 22, 1998 Charley Tropical Storm September 11, 1998 Frances Tropical Storm August 23, 1999 Bret Category 3 June 5, 2001 Allison Tropical Storm September 7, 2002 Fay Tropical Storm June 30, 2003 Bill Tropical Storm July 15, 2003 Claudette Category 1 August 16, 2003 Erika Category 1 August 31, 2003 Grace Tropical Storm September 24, 2005 Rita Category 3 August 16, 2007 Erin Tropical Storm September 13, 2007 Humberto Category 1 July 23, 2008 Dolly Category 2 August 5, 2008 Edouard Tropical Storm September 13, 2008 Ike Category 2 PUCT Project No FINAL REPORT 15

17 Figure 2-3. Tracks of hurricanes making Texas landfall in the last ten years. Figure 2-3 demonstrates that no part of the Texas coastline is safe when it comes to hurricanes. In the last ten years, the distribution of hurricane landfall locations is, for the most part, uniformly distributed from Brownsville in the southernmost point to Port Arthur in the northernmost point. In addition, there is no discernable relationship between landfall location and hurricane strength. For the most part, hurricanes make landfall in uniformly random locations and are of random strength independent of landfall location. These observations are statistically examined in the probabilistic hurricane simulation model, discussed in Appendix A. August 22, 1998 Tropical Storm Charley made landfall near Port Aransas. The storm s major impact was its very heavy rain. Charley produced 17 inches of rain in Del Rio in a 24-hour period, a new record daily rainfall for the city. Refugio, Texas received 7.2 inches of rain, and Woodsboro, Texas recorded 5 inches. The storm surge on areas of the Texas coast was small. Sustained tropical storm force winds reached 41 miles per hour. Damage from the storm, while generally light, was severe locally. At one point, two-thirds of Del Rio was underwater after a natural dam broke in the San Felipe Creek, flooding the city with a sudden surge of water. Eight counties in Texas were declared disaster areas. PUCT Project No FINAL REPORT 16

18 September 11, 1998 Tropical Storm Frances made landfall north of Corpus Christi as a moderately strong tropical storm. Winds gusted as high as 66 mph at Sea Rim State Park. Three tornadoes touched down at Caney Creek, La Porte, and Galveston. A major disaster declaration was issued for Brazoria, Galveston, and Harris counties. Frances caused significant amounts of flooding across southeastern Texas, with a peak of 21 inches in the Houston metropolitan area. Sections of the Middle Texas coast, closer to the point of landfall, and the Golden Triangle of southeast Texas reported over 10 inches of rainfall as well, resulting in significant flood damage. A storm surge of 5.4 feet was measured at Sabine Pass, Texas and 8 feet was measured at the Matagorda Locks. August 23, 1999 Hurricane Bret made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane at Padre Island, becoming the first major hurricane to hit Texas since Alicia in Bret made landfall on August 23 rd on Padre Island with 115 mph winds. Bret s strong winds were confined to a small area and only affected a sparsely populated region. June 5, 2001 Tropical Storm Allison made landfall near Freeport. It stalled over eastern Texas for several days, dropping extreme amounts of rain which led to catastrophic flooding. The worst of the flooding occurred in Houston where over 35 inches of rain fell. Allison killed 41 people, of which 27 drowned, making Allison the deadliest tropical storm on record in the United States. Allison had sustained winds of up to 43 mph. September 7, 2002 Tropical Storm Fay made landfall near Port O Connor, where it caused heavy rainfall. The effects in Texas were moderate to severe in some locations with flooding being the main source of damage. Storm surge along the Texas coast was 4.5 feet above the normal high tide. Rainfall totals up to 24 inches caused severe flash flooding. June 30, 2003 Tropical Storm Bill dropped light rain across southeastern Texas, peaking at 1.1 inches in Jamaica Beach. Sustained winds from the storm remained weak with peak gusts of 20 mph in eastern Galveston County. Upon making landfall, Bill caused a storm surge of 3.8 feet at Pleasure Pier. Effects in Texas were minimal, limited to minor beach erosion on the Bolivar Peninsula. July 15, 2003 Hurricane Claudette made landfall at Matagorda Island near Port O Connor as a strong Category 1 storm with maximum sustained winds of 90 mph. Upon making landfall, Claudette s storm surge reached a maximum height of 5.3 feet in Galveston. Claudette produced moderate rainfall across southern Texas, peaking at 6.5 inches in Tilden. Severe beach erosion occurred from High Island to Freeport. The outer bands of the hurricane spawned two tornadoes. Strong winds downed numerous power lines, leaving around 74,000 residents without power in the immediate aftermath. August 16, 2003 Hurricane Erika made landfall in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas as a Category 1 hurricane, causing minor coastal damage and beach erosion in parts of southern Texas. Erika produced light rainfall across southern Texas, peaking at 3.8 inches in Sabinal, though most locations reported less than two inches. Sustained winds from Erika in south Texas peaked at 39 mph in Brownsville. The storm caused minor flooding and beach erosion along South Padre Island. August 31, 2003 Tropical Storm Grace made landfall near San Luis Pass with maximum sustained winds of 40 mph, causing heavy rainfall along the Texas coast. Upon landfall, Tropical Storm Grace produced a light storm surge of 3.5 feet in Matagorda and North Jetty. Rainfall was moderate to heavy across eastern Texas, peaking at 10.4 inches in Spindletop Bayou. Overall, damage was minor. PUCT Project No FINAL REPORT 17

19 September 24, 2005 Hurricane Rita made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane at the Texas/Louisiana border. Major flooding was reported in Port Arthur and Beaumont. Offshore oil platforms throughout Rita s path also suffered significant damage. For the most part, Houston escaped major damage, apart from extensive loss of power. North of Houston, the 2.5-mile-wide Lake Livingston dam sustained substantial damage from powerful waves driven by 117 mph winds. Communities in Beaumont, Port Arthur, and Orange sustained enormous wind damage. Texas Governor Rick Perry declared nine counties as disaster areas. In Beaumont and Groves an estimated 25% of the trees in the heavily wooded neighborhoods were uprooted. Rita s storm surge was contained by Port Arthur s extensive levee system. Bolivar Peninsula between Galveston and Sabine Pass experienced only a small storm surge, in contrast to areas east of Rita s center where a 20-foot surge struck Louisiana s unprotected towns. August 16, 2007 Tropical Storm Erin made landfall near Lamar with rainfall reaching 11 inches and sustained winds reaching 39 mph. The passage of the storm caused several bayous in the Houston area to reach or exceed flood levels. Upon moving ashore, the storm produced a minor storm surge peaking at 3.2 feet (at Pleasure Pier), which caused minor beach erosion. Erin left about 20,000 electrical customers without power, though most outages were quickly restored. September 13, 2007 Hurricane Humberto made landfall just east of High Island with sustained winds of up to 92 mph, dropping up to 14 inches of rain. Upon moving ashore, Humberto produced a minor storm surge of 2.9 feet at Rollover Pass; the combination of surge and waves resulted in light beach erosion. The combination of saturated grounds and strong winds uprooted many trees and downed power lines across the path of the hurricane. Over 114,000 customers in Southeast Texas lost power. Oil production was slowed as a result of Humberto at least four refineries due to the loss of power. July 23, 2008 Hurricane Dolly made landfall at South Padre Island with sustained winds of 100 mph. Dolly is considered to be the most destructive hurricane to hit the Rio Grande Valley in 41 years. President Bush declaring 15 counties of Texas as federal disaster areas, and Governor Rick Perry declaring 14 counties disaster areas. The storm caused 212,000 customers to lose power in Texas as well as 125,000 in Tamaulipas, and dropped estimated amounts of over 16 inches of rain in isolated areas. Virtually all 91,000 acres of the Lower Rio Grande Valley cotton crop was destroyed by Dolly. August 5, 2008 Tropical Storm Edouard made landfall near Port Arthur, with winds near 65 mph and storm surges of 3.9 feet. Heavy rainfall fell along and inland of the upper Texas coast. In Jefferson County, about 30,000 customers lost power at the peak of the storm. Overall damage was fairly light. September 13, 2008 Hurricane Ike made landfall at Galveston as a large Category 2 hurricane. Ike was the most destructive hurricane to ever hit Texas and one of the deadliest. In Galveston, the rising storm surge overtopping the 17-ft seawall resulted in widespread flooding (see Figure 2-4). On Bolivar Peninsula, a twelve foot storm surge destroyed more than 80% of exposed homes (see Figure 2-5). The storm surge also damaged almost every home in Bridge City. In Houston, Ike resulted in broken windows in downtown buildings. Damage to power systems was extensive with more than four million customers losing power. Full restoration took several weeks. PUCT Project No FINAL REPORT 18

20 Figure 2-4. Flooding in Galveston as a result of Hurricane Ike. Figure 2-5. Damage in Gilchrist as a result of Hurricane Ike. PUCT Project No FINAL REPORT 19

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